A new analysis of national traffic data shows that drivers involved in fatal car accidents as well as non-fatal crashes were “more often lost in thought than distracted by mobile phones.”

Ten percent of the time, car accidents that ended in a fatality involved at least one motorist who was distracted according to the study. Sixty-two percent of the time those distracted drivers were “lost in thought” or daydreaming as opposed to 12 percent who were distracted from cell phone use.

This study is interesting because so much attention has been paid to cell phone use (texting, calling, surfing) as a major cause of accidents. This study is the first one to draw attention to other distracters.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is asking drivers to stay vigilant about the dangers of the road “by playing the “what if” game and asking themselves how they would react to unexpected events on the road…Treat driving as a complicated task requiring your full attention,” the foundation said.

Anyone with a child of driving age knows the feeling. Your child has taken the car out on a Friday night to meet friends. Every 30 minutes you’ve looked at the clock. Every siren you hear has given you a sinking feeling in your gut.

As the night progresses, you lie in bed waiting to hear the door open, announcing the safe arrival of your child – still wondering if your child is safe. Still sleepless, you finally hear the door open and a “hi mom and dad… I’m home”.

If you are like most parents – this scenario plays itself out for years.

When you are involved in a personal injury incident, whether you have been injured in a car accident, by medical malpractice, by a defective product, an animal bite or in any other way, there are a lot of questions that you may want to ask.

We have prepared this blog post and many more to come to answer some common questions we hear from our clients. Please note that we have prepared this material for general use and it is not tailored to any particular case or type of case.

WHAT DOES MY PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MY MEDICAL TREATMENT?